Improved railwat-car brake



' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. TATHAM & STEGER.

Raiiway Car Brake.

No. 91,181. Patented June 8, 1869.

dinitrd fiat-airs gestalt Gtiijiirr.

BENJAMIN TA'IHAM A ND JOSEPH STEGER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

.Letters Patent No. 91,181, dated June 8, 1869.

IMPROVED RAILWAY-CAR BReKE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and part of the same.

To all whom. it may concern;

Be it known thatwe, BENJAMIN admi and- JOSEPH STEGER, bothof the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oar-Brakes; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those 'skilled'in the art to make and use the'same,1-reference being had -to the accompanying :drawing, forming part of this specifica tion, in which drawing- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of this invention.

Figure 2 is an inverted planthereof. Figure 3 is ing-parts. p U

Figure 4 is a detached'se'ctional view of the take up.

Figure 5 is an inverted plan-of a car, showingamod ification of the connection "between our double w edge- Similarletters indicate corrcspondiugparts:

This invcntiqu relates to that class of car brakes for: which Letters Patent weregranted to JosephSteger,

October 27, 1868,.No. 83,418; V p {Our present improi ement consists- First, in giving to-the friction-plate, which forms the principal feature of the above-named patent, an increased thickiie'ssfrom the centre"towards its ends,

inf-such a mannerj that by the actionof said frictionpl'ateitself, the slack of tlie-brake-chain or rope is taken up, if the cars are close-"coupled," and thereby. the client.

of said friction-plate 'oiithe brakes is materiallyim proved.

Second, in the arrangement-ofairigid.co uectio'n between the fl'iction-platetand the upright reversing.

lever, which connectsfwithithe brakes in such'a manner, that if the car'runs in: one directiomth'e' frictionplate acts by pushing, and when the car 'runs' in' the opposite direction, said friction-plate operates by pulling on the arm of the reversing-leven'and'the eifect of the friction-plate on lt-he brakes is the-:same, in

whatever direction the car n1oves..' i

Third, in the arrangement of a self-acting take-up, in combination with the brake-chain or rope, and with the couplings of the cars,-in such a manner that when the cars run close together, the slack of the brake: chain or rope is taken up automatically, and when the cars separate, the slack is given out again, and thereby said brake-chain or rope is always kept in the proper condition to act on the brakes throughout the entire length of'the train.

A represents the platform of a railroad-car, which is supported by two trucks B B, each of which runs To one of these trucks is, secured a lever, E, which.

has its fulcrum on a pivot, a, secured in the end of a perspective View of the prineipalwork- I frame, as shown in fig. l.

b, and it, is suspended upon the brake-rope or chain G, which extends throughout the entire length of the train, and which passes over rollers c, secured to the secured to thelast car, and its front end to a Windlass on the engineers stand, or in any position convenient of access for the engineer, or for a hrakeman charged with the particular duty of attending to the. brakes.

Thelever E extends under the axle, 0*, and it carries a'i'oller, cl, which acts against a corresponding roller,- c, mounted on the axle. Between those two rollers, d and e, is'situated the friction-plate or bar H, and this plate is made increasing in thickness from the centre towards the ends, as clearly. shown in figs. 1 and 3. If the brakes are tobe applied, the engineer or hrakeman winds np.or pulls on the' brakechain or .rope. G, and the friction-plates H, of the several cars, are squeezed'tight bctween the rollersd and e, pf their respective levers and axles, and as' sai'd platesare' made to move between these'rollers, the brake-rdpeiorgjhain is kept taut by .thewedge-shape of said friction-plate or bar, and the brakes are instantaneously pi'essed up against the peripheries of their respectivf yheels with the required force. I

The connection between the friction-bar or plate H,

hwhichgis' secured. to the upper end of a vertical shaft, J','-from* 'tl ie lower end of whichextends an arm fi whichis' pivoted tothe end of thefiiction-bar or plat igbest seen in figs. -1 and 3: 1

The reversing-lever I, is double-armed, and each arm thereof connects, by rods g g, and links it h, and rods, 'm m, with levers it", which are pivoted to the brake-heads 7t 7:, at the opposite ends of the car. Each of these levers is double-armed, and its lower end connects, by a rod, 1 or l, with the brake-head h or 75*, at the opposite or inner end of the corresponding truck. If the car moves in the direction of the arrow 2, marked thereon in fig. 2, and a. strain is exerted on the brake-chain or rope G, the friction-bar H is caused to move in the direction opposite to that in which the car moves, and the lever I is turned in the direction of arrow 1, and all the brakes are drawn car moves inthe opposite direction of arrow 2, the friction-plate moves in .t-he direction of arrow 3, and the lever I is turned in the direction opposite to the arrow 1, causing the brakes to be applied the samens before. As the friction-plate or bar is drawn in between the rollers d e, an additional strain is imparted to the brake-rope G, by the increasing thickness of said plate towards its ends, and the brakes are drawn an'arm, F, which is rigidly attached to the truck- .-.'1he' loose end of said lever is armed with a roller,

truck-frames of the several cars, and under the rollers b of the several levers E, as shown, its rear endbeing and brakes, is efi'ectedjby means of a reversing-lever,

up against the peripheries of the wheels, and if the up tight against the wheels, and any slack existing in the brake-rope is taken up automatically.

It is obvious that this feature of our present invention is applicable to the form of reversing-levers described in our patent of October 27, 1868, No. 83,422, by connecting the friction-bar directly to one of the reversing-levers, as shown in fig. 5, of the drawing, so that the same is actuated by pulling and by pushing. In this case, the connecting-rods of the reversing-levers will be crossed to facilitate the operation in turning curves. By connecting the reversing-lever 1 to the Windlass L, the brakes of each car can be applied by hand in the usual manner.

If the cars are not close-coupled, the amount of slack of the brake-rope or chain becomes such that the wedge-shaped plate or bar H wiil not be able to counteract the same, and in this case we apply the automatic take-up M, which consists of a head, m, mounted on the end of a shaft, 11, and carrying two rollers, 0, over and between which the brake-rope or chain is passed, as shown in figs. 1, 2, and 4.-

On the shaft n is wound a rope, 0', which connects with the end of a spring, p, wound on the stem of the bufier or coupling N. If the cars run close together, the buffer N is pressed in, and the head at is turned in the direction of arrow 4, figs. 1 and 4, and thereby the slack of the brake-rope is taken up. If the cars separate again, as far as the coupling will permit, the head at turns back to its original position, and'the slack of the brake-rope is given out. This automatic take-up is applicable to all car-brakes which re operated hy a chain or rope, extending throng out the whole length of the train.

We disclaim everything shown and described in the patent of Joseph Steger, dated October 27, 1868, No. 83.418; but having thus described our invention,

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Giving to the friction-plate or bar H, a doublewedge shape from the centre towards its ends, substantially as shown and described.

2. The friction-plate or bar H, when the same is arranged, in combination with levers to be pushed and. pulled, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The automatic take-up M, in combination with the bufl'er or coupling N, and brake-rope or chain, G, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

BENJ. TATHAM. JOSEPH STEGER. \Vitnesses:

E. F. Kssrnxnonnn, W. HAUFF. 

